


Two Sides of the Same Coin

by amberjj123



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Hale Fire (Teen Wolf), Alternate Universe - No Werewolves, Angst, Bisexual Derek Hale, Dead Talia Hale, Derek Hale & Stiles Stilinski Being Idiots, Derek Hale is a Failwolf, Drag Queens, Gay Stiles Stilinski, Idiots in Love, Light Angst, M/M, Misunderstandings, Nerd Derek Hale, Nerd Stiles Stilinski, Past Abuse, Rating May Change, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Stiles Stilinski is a Little Shit, Tags May Change, drag!stiles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 22:41:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28874745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amberjj123/pseuds/amberjj123
Summary: Being bisexual is all fun and games until you end up falling for completely different people.  Or at least that's how it first seems to Derek.Working at his uncle's club Derek starts to fall for one of the performers, Miss Chief.  Things start to get complicated when feelings develop for Stiles.  Who just happens to be his new roommate and sister's friend.Who will he choose; Stiles, the sweet but awkward nerd, or Miss Cheif, the salacious and brazen performer?
Relationships: Chris Argent/Peter Hale, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Lydia Martin/Jordan Parrish, Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes
Comments: 11
Kudos: 93





	1. Deal Me In

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoy this fic, it's been burning in the back of my brain for a while. I'm going to try and post every week (usually on the weekends) so stay tuned for that. If you're concerned about the abuse tag, it gets talked about in later chapters, and I'll give you guys a warning when before it does come up.

Derek wiped his hands on his suit pants for what seemed like the thousandth time. Glancing around he saw the two other people sitting in the waiting room of Beacon Hills Financial, one of the largest accountant firms in Beacon Hills. He hated this part of the job interview. He hated the bundle of nerves building in his stomach as he waited for his turn to go into the interview. The man and the woman waiting as well seemed to be not nearly as nervous as him. The woman was pretty with copper skin, long black hair, and black talons for nails. She flipped through a magazine she had brought with her as if she didn’t have a care in the world. The man had his phone glued to his hand as he tapped away at the screen. His bald head was bent, the lights from the office bouncing off of the slight stubble that was pushing its way through his skull. They both were at least ten years older than he was and were probably more qualified for the position than a recent college grad like himself. 

The click of the wooden door startled him as he turned to see a man with dark sunglasses and a long white stick he used to sweep the area before he walked over it. The man gave Derek an unnerving smile as if he could see right through him and into his soul. Without a word, the blind man walked out of the waiting room.

“Derek Hale, would you please follow me,” Deaton said. Derek sent a silent prayer of thanks to whoever was watching over him. Derek had met Deaton at the job fair his school had put on the week before graduation for the seniors. Deaton had seemed really interested in him coming to work at Beacon Hills Financial, so maybe he would give him a chance and hire him, even though he had next to no experiences. Swallowing his nerves he stood up and followed Deaton past the thick wooden door and into his office.

#

Later that night Derek, Cora, and Laura found themselves all seated around the kitchen table in their loft. The smell of toasted garlic bread, homemade pasta sauce wasn’t the only thing filling the air. The tension was thick as the three siblings ate. The three were silent, only the sound of cutlery clinking together could be heard. For the past couple of days, there had been growing animosity between Laura and Cora. Derek didn’t know why his sisters were fighting, and honestly, he really didn’t want to know and didn’t want to get in the middle of it if he could help it. 

“I’m moving out,” Laura said, causing Derek and Cora to freeze in shock. Her tone left no room for arguments and her face held no humor. This wasn’t some empty promise or threat. 

“What?” he asked, not believing what he was hearing. He knew the fight was bad, but he didn’t know it was ‘move out’ bad.

“I’m moving in with Connor and should be out by the end of the week. That should give you enough time to find another roommate.” With that, she quickly stood up and brought her plate to the sink.

“What the hell?” he whispered harshly at Cora once he was sure Laura was in her room. Cora leveled him with an icy gaze. Grabbing her plate she stalked to the kitchen leaving Derek wondering why his sisters were being so extra. 

Derek sat at the kitchen table, rubbing his eyes in exasperation. It was times like this that he wished his mother was around. She would know what to say to make the situation better. If it wasn’t for the mudslide that had covered their car, his mom and dad would still be here. He couldn’t even blame anyone for their deaths, they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He let out a scornful laugh, it was ironic that being environmental lawyers, his parents had been suing Argent and Co. for their role in the deforestation of the Californian hillside, the same hillside that had slid over them ending their lives. 

Lost in thought, he found himself in front of Laura’s door. Knocking softly he called her name, begging for her to open up. The wood creaked open to reveal Laura’s tear-streaked face. “Can I come in?” he asked and was grateful when Laura nodded and moved out of the doorway to let him through. “Want to tell me what the hell is going on?” 

Laura let out a hollow laugh as she sat crossed-legged in the middle of her bed, Derek taking up residence on the side of her bed. “I think Cora is mad at me for moving out.”

“But you guys were fighting long before you told us tonight,” Derek said, his brows pinching in confusion.

Laura sighed wearily. “She found out about Connor proposing to me and flipped her shit. I think deep down she feels like I’m abandoning her. It’s probably because she was so young when we lost Mom and Dad.”

“Okay, can we take the shrink hat off for just two seconds here and not try and psychoanalyze our little sister.” Derek gave Laura a pointed look. Derek knew Laura meant well when she tried to ‘help’ them by being their own personal therapist, or worse telling them why they were mad or upset. In the heat of the moment when emotions are running high, the last thing anyone wants to hear is the ‘real’ reason why they were mad in the first place. Even if that reason is correct.

“I wasn’t doing that,” Lura mumbled like a petulant child.

“Really? So the words ‘I’m mad at you because I feel like your abandoning me just like Mom and Dad did and that my anger stems from my abandonment issues’ left her mouth?” Derek asked. 

Laura winced. “Well no.” 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. So to make this right you are going to apologize to Cora for psychoanalyzing her. You need to tell her that you love her and will always be there for her but that you need to move on and start a life with Connor.”

“But I didn’t-”

Derek held up a hand to stop her. “Don’t care. If you want to make this right you need to do it.”

Laura sighed. “Fine I will, but that’s if she’ll even talk to me.” A moment passed before a small smile tugged at her lips. “When did you get so smart, little brother?” 

“Must have been when you had your head so far up your own ass you couldn’t even see.” Derek laughed lightly when Laura pushed at his shoulder forcing him off her bed. 

#

The next morning Derek blearily stumbled out of bed and to the coffee maker. Sighing in relief when the black liquid touched his lips. 

“I can’t believe you’re able to drink that paint stripper,” Cora said before taking another bite of cereal. Derek scowled at her but still made his way to the table where she sat, his coffee clutched in his hands as if his life depended upon it. “Don’t give me that look. And before you get even more scowly at me I know rule number one is ‘don’t talk to Derek before he has had his second cup’. And rule number two is ‘don’t forget rule number one’. Technically I didn’t break the rule since it was more of a comment and not a statement or a question directed directly at you.”

Derek glared at her, but she only smirked before shoving another spoonful of the sugary cereal into her mouth. Once he had finished his second cup he turned to his little sister who was stooped over an open textbook. “Did you talk with Laura last night?” Derek asked.

“Yeah we did,” she mumbled, eyes never leaving her textbook. 

“I’m assuming that you guys worked things out since I didn’t hear any screaming or see any blood.” Derek smiled when his comment made her snort in amusement.

“We talked and I realized that I was blowing this up way more than it needed to be.” She sighed and sat up to look at Derek. “It also helped that she apologized for going all Freud on my ass. Don’t suppose you had anything to do with convincing her to do that,” she said giving Derek a knowing look.

Derek raised one hand while the other sat over his heart. “I plead the fifth.” He gave her his most mock-serious face he had and only dropped the act when a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Derek knew that the loss of their parents had forced her to grow up extremely fast and forced the carefree happy little girl he knew into the cynical woman that sat before him. He took every opportunity he had to make her smile and be that carefree girl again, even if it was just for a moment.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she said smirking at him before she turned back to her serious self. “I guess we should probably talk about finding a new roommate.”

“Please tell me you have someone in mind. I rather not have a Crag’s List killer living with us.”

Cora let out a snort and rolled her eyes. “Yes, I have someone in mind.”

“Alright, care to share _who_ that person is?” Derek prompted.

“My friend from school is looking for a new place since the apartment he was in got foreclosed and all the tenants got evicted. And before you ask, yes he’s looked everywhere but all the apartments around campus are already filled. We’re supposed to meet up at The Bean Counter on Tuesday to study for our Intro to American Court System midterm. You should stop by so you can vet him before I ask him if he still is looking for an apartment.” She said, barely stopping to take a breath. “He’s a really nice guy and I really think that you two would get along together really well. He-”

“Alright,” Derek said, holding up a and to stop the word vomit and rambling that his sister was doing. “I’ll drop by and see what the kid is like before I give him my blessing to move in.” Derek flinched at the sequel that came out of Cora’s mouth as she launched herself at him to strangle him in a hug. 

#

Derek startled when the loft door slammed open, stealing his attention away from the trashy reality TV he was watching. He glared at Peter as he walked into the loft and closed the door behind him. “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked, turning his attention back to the TV.

“Offering you, my dear nephew a job,” Peter said sitting in the armchair that was next to the couch Derek was currently sprawled all over.

“Really?” he asked, sitting up to look at his uncle. Two days. It had been two days since he had gone to the interview at Beacon Hills Financial. At this point, he figured that he hadn’t gotten the job. Hence the ‘I’m unemployed’ aesthetic, which included three-day-old stubble, last night's pajamas, and a serious case of bed head. Every single job interview he went to had gone nowhere. Leaving Derek to question whether or not he just wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars on a degree that was useless. He should have gotten a degree in a field that was actually hiring, but no, he had fallen in love with accounting and decided to waste his money on that.

“Yeah, I need help with my club.” Peter leaned back in the chair as he kicked his feet onto the coffee table.

Derek narrowed his eyes at Peter. As much as he loved the older man, he trusted him just about as far as he could throw him. “How much and what would I be doing?”

Derek saw the smile that Peter was trying to suppress. “27 an hour and you’ll be working Wednesday to Sunday.”

“Great but what would I be doing?” Derek growled out. 

“As I told you, you’ll be helping me at my club. We can work out the semantics when you come over tomorrow,” Peter said smiling and standing up. As he made his way towards the door he paused and looked over his shoulder at Derek. “Oh, and be there at 8:30.” With that, he walked out of the loft.

Derek let out an unbelievable laugh as he just sat on the couch trying to process what happened. Getting a job where you’re paid 27 dollars an hour sounded like a dream, but his uncle's shiftiness at exactly what he would be doing gave him pause. He didn’t know much about the club that Peter had bought a few years ago. He only knew that the original owner got arrested for money laundering and tax evasion. Even if the original owner hadn’t gotten arrested, the club would have probably been closed by now. No one in Beacon Hills had even heard about the club until the scandal with the original owner broke, even though the club itself was in operation for nearly half a century. 

After Peter had bought the club and hired Lida Martin for PR and marketing, he turned it into one of the hottest clubs in Beacon Hills. Yet, in the few years that Peter had owned the club, Derek had yet to step foot in the place. Clubs weren’t his thing. Staying home and watching a movie were his thing. His sisters always made fun of him being a homebody, but he was an introvert at heart. However, this introvert had student loans and 27 dollars an hour sounded really good, even if he would be working a club. He just hoped that his uncle would let him stay in the back so that he didn’t have to set foot out on to the main club area.


	2. King of Clubs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's my birthday today, I'm giving you guys a gift and posting this chapter today instead of next weekend *throws confetti* Enjoy and hope you guys like it.  
> 

“Really Peter? This is not what I imagined when I agreed to help you with your club.” Derek bit back the growl that was growing in his throat, the clicking sound of Peter typing grating on his nerves. “When I agreed to help I thought you meant help with the books. You know, like what I have a degree in. Not bartending.”

Peter’s fingers stilled, his gaze sliding towards Derek. “What can I say? I need a pretty face out there,” he said with a smirk. “We’ve also been getting more customers. Since you have your bartending license, you are exactly the person I need.” 

“What about Boyd?” Derek asked, trying his hardest to keep from whining like a child.

“He’s doing security. Before you say anything let me remind you that if you are the bouncer, you’ll complain the whole night about how cold you are and how you want to come inside. Plus I know for certain you will scare away at least 2o% of the people who show up.” Peter arches an eyebrow, daring Derek to say that he’s wrong.

“But if I’m as bad with customers as you say I am, then why put me at the bar where I have to deal with the majority of them?” Derek countered, a smug feeling rising in him.

“Because dear nephew, even if they don’t buy anything and leave, they’ll still have to pay the cover fee to get in,” Peter said standing up to round his desk and slap Derek on the shoulder. “Come on let me introduce you to some of your new coworkers.” 

Derek dutifully followed Peter out of his office while the older man was rambling on about who worked at the club and how the club operated and what his job would entail. If he was being honest, he tuned out his uncle’s droning voice a long time ago. He had done some bartending in college, so he already knew the rundown of how to be a bartender. Derek rolled his eyes, he didn’t know why his uncle insisted on telling re-explaining how to be behind the bar. 

“We open the club at 10 but staff and performers come in at 8,” Peter said, giving him a smile that made Derek instantly regret agreeing to help him. 

#

The next night Derek pulled open the club doors and walked into the club. He saw that Boyd and Peter were talking behind the bar, while Liam was setting up his DJ equipment. It was strange being in the club before they opened. With none of the strobe lights and all of the regular lights on he could see all the little imperfections of the club. The quiet of the club was a far cry from the booming base that the speakers pumped out or all the chatter of the patrons.

“Ah, I’m glad you made it nephew,” Peter said as Derek walked up to the bar. “Since you two are now here, I’m leaving the restocking of the alcohol up to you two.” With that he left them with the crates of alcohol that were hidden just out of view behind the bar. 

Sighing in resignation he and Boyd did as Peter bid. Derek stacked and restocked bottles until right before they were set to open. Whereas Boyd had left him an hour earlier to stand watch at the door and make sure that the line of people waiting was civil. Once the final bottle of alcohol was stocked, Derek stood up. Stretching his back, he sighed in relief when he felt his spine pop. Suddenly his vision went black when Peter threw him a shirt, hitting him square in the face.

“Here. All employees that aren’t performers have to wear this,” Peter said before dipping back into his back office. 

Derek held out the black t-shirt that read JUNGLE on the chest. As far a staff uniform went it wasn’t the worst thing he’d ever worn. A mental shudder went through him when he remembered the time in high school he had to wear a hot dog suit for his job. Laura caught him wearing it while he stood on the sidewalk flipping a sign directing customers into the restaurant. Being the big sister that she is, she had never let him live that down. Once he had changed he got behind the bar just in time for the first customers to come in.

As the night wore on Derek got back into the groove of things. Flirting with customers, memorizing large orders, all the while making sure not to bump into Peter. He had forgotten how much fun it was to be behind the bar. He scanned the bar to see if anyone was waiting to order any drinks. Seeing as there was only one other person that was waiting to be served, Derek made his way over towards the young man that was sitting at the end of the bar.

The young man had tousled brown hair, and the palest skin Derek had ever seen. The paleness is a sharp contrast to the moles that were dotted all over his cheek and down his neck. The guy sat with his profile to Derek as he looked out onto the crowd searching for someone. One hand drumming a rhythmic beat against the bar top, the other between the guys teeth as he bit nervously at his nails. He had a lean frame underneath his t-shirt. Said t-shirt definitely earned him brownie points in Derek’s mind. It was a black shirt with a picture of a crazy looking old man with scraggly white hair and beard in front of a rickety-looking bridge. The old man had one eye that was milky white, the was squinted closed. The man’s lips were pulled into a crazed smile that showed off his yellow and missing teeth. Over the crazy looking old man had text that read “what is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?” 

“African or European?” Derek asked, leaning closer to the guy's ear so he didn’t have to shout over the music. Which it might not have been the best idea to sneak up on the guy since he startled, arms flailing as he nearly landed on the floor. 

“Wha-what?” the guy asked, whiskey brown eyes stared up in bewilderment and confusion. 

A sliver of fear worked its way inside of Derek. No one in his social circle really liked Monty Python and it would have been cool to talk about it with the guy. “I said ‘African of European’,” Derek said, jerking his chin at the young man’s shirt. 

“What?” the guy asked and looked down as if he hadn’t even known that was the shirt he was currently wearing. The guy's gaze shot back up to Derek’s widening in shock. “Wait did you just quote Monty Python and the Holy Grail?” Derek nodded slowly, not understanding why the guy seated in front of him was acting so surprised. The guy gaped at him and said, “you? A living Greek God has seen Monty Python enough to quote it?”

“What, is there some kind of law that says that only certain people can watch Monty Python?” Derek said crossing arms in defense. Then the guy did something Derek never thought he would do. Leaning over the bar the guy poked at Derek’s chest. “Um, what are you doing?”

“Making sure I’m not having a hallucination of every nerd's wet dream,” the guy said, then froze midway as he sat back down in his stool. “I said that out loud didn’t I?”

“Yep.” A smile tugged at Derek’s lips as he watched the guy crumple back onto his seat. That pale skin growing pink as he tried to bury his head into his crossed arms that were resting on the bar top. 

“Please Lord what whatever sin I’ve committed couldn’t have been bad enough to punish me like this,” the guy muttered to himself.

“Are you going to stay that way all night?” 

“Yes,” the guy’s muffled voice said from behind his arms. “Don’t mind me I’ll just be over here mentally freaking out and praying that the earth will suddenly open up and swallow me whole.”

That statement caused a chuckle to slip past his lips. “Do you always poke strangers?”

The young man’s gaze peaked out from behind his arms. “No,” he grumbled, finally sitting up. His face was still pink, but his full lips were turned down.

“Okay, so let’s start over. I’m Derek,” he said, giving the young man a friendly smile. At least he hoped it came across as friendly. 

Stiles,” he said, his face finally relaxing and his lips no longer pulled into a frown.

“So Stiles, what can I get you today?” he asked leaning against the low fridge that housed all the beer bottles. 

“Nothing right now, I’m just waiting for my friends to get here,” Stiles said, giving him an apologetic smile.

Derek nodded and went to move further down the bar to take care of some of the other customers who had recently bellied up to the bar. As Derek was mixing drinks he heard a squeal followed by a yelp coming from where Derek had left Stiles. Turning he saw a rather buxom blond was crushing him in a fierce hug. Another guy was watching the whole situation with a fond smile on his face.

“E-Erica. You’re. Choking. Me,” Stiles gasped out while trying to pry the woman’s arms off of his neck. 

“I can’t believe that you’re here,” she said nuzzling his head. Her wild mane of curly blond hair surrounding the two, brightly painted red lips pulling into a wide smile. Her brown eyes twinkled with mischief knowing exactly what she was doing to the poor guy. She was wearing a strapless leather top that barely concealed her ample chest. 

“What am I chopped liver?” the other guy said, bumping the woman’s shoulder with his own. The man was tall and decently built. The navy Henley he wore straining over well-developed muscles. His sandy blond hair was short and it looked like he was trying to grow out a military cut he once had. He was handsome with a strong jaw and bright blue eyes. 

“Please, I see you everyday Parrish,” Erica said, finally releasing Stiles’ neck. “You don’t count. Stiles, however, I see once, maybe twice a month if I’m lucky.”

“You know you could always see me more if you came to my performances,” Stiles said glaring at the woman while he was rubbing at his abused neck.

“It’s not the same as when we’re at your dad’s cracking a cold one with the boys,” Erica pouted before a smile reappeared on her face. “Speaking of, hey new guy mind getting that fine ass over here and grab us some drinks?” she yelled, waving her hand in the air to grab Derek’s attention.

Derek tried not to laugh when he saw that Stiles was desperately trying to wrestle with her to shut her up and put down her waving arms. By the time Derek made his way down the bar the two had calmed down. “Yeah?” 

“Mind making me a tequila sunrise cutie?” She asked, batting her eyelashes at Derek and smiling sweetly at him. 

“NO!” Parrish and Stiles yelled at the same time, both men’s eyes bugging out of their heads. Derek’s brow ratcheted up to his hairline at the fierceness of their reaction to her order. _There had to be a story behind their reaction_ , he thought to himself.

“What? It’s one little drink,” she said, pouting at her friends, her red painted bottom lip sticking out. When she saw that it wasn’t working on the two men with her, she turned that pouting mouth to Derek for support. Unfortunately for her, Cora had made him immune to puppy dog eyes. Not that he would tell the woman in front of him that. It was just too amusing watching her try and sway the men around her.

“One, since you’re performing tonight, i.e. working, you can’t drink,” Stiles said holding up a single finger. 

“But-”

“Sorry those are Peter’s rules, you have a problem with them you take it up with him. Second, the last time you had anything with tequila in it you thought it would be a good idea to steal Mr. Smiths' alpaca and try to make a live-action version of ‘Llamas with Hats’,” Stiles said, cutting her off and arching a brow at her in accusation. 

“Oh come on Stiles,” Erica said with a whine, but Stiles remained firm, not letting the pouting blond sway him. Seeing as she was getting nowhere with Stiles she turned to Parrish. “Parrish please tell him that he’s completely blowing that whole situation out of proportion.”

“Sorry Reyes, I’m going to have to back Stiles up on this one,” Parrish said, not swaying when she turned those puppy dog eyes at him.

“Some partner you are,” she muttered, crossing her arms like a five-year-old.

“You’re lucky I came to watch you on the one day off from performing and being a deputy,” Parrish said mimicking her crossed arms.

Deflating she turned those pouting brown eyes onto Derek and sighed rather dramatically. “Fine, I’ll have a coke.”

Bitting back a smile at the trio that sat before him, Derek nodded before turning to the two other men. “What about you guys?”

“Boston Lager for me and he’ll have a Shirley Temple,” Parrish said, causing Stiles to stare at his friend in disbelief.

“Actually I’ll have a Rum and Coke,” Stiles said glaring at Parrish. Glancing down at Stiles’ wrist he didn’t see the fluorescent pink paper wristband that all 21+ patroons were given when they first entered the club. 

“Tell you what, why don’t I make you my famous Captain John Stith drink. It’s just like a Rum and coke only better,” Derek said, which only caused Stiles to give him a dubious look. “If you don’t like it, it’ll be on the house.” Stiles mulled it over before agreeing. Derek quickly set to work mixing the three drinks and sliding them across the bar top. He watched Stiles’ reaction as those full lips wrapped around the straw and he took a tentative sip. 

“Wow this is really good,” Stiles said in surprise, causing Derek to smother a smile. Little did Stiles know, but the reason why the drink was so good was because it was a Rum and Coke, only minus the rum part. 

As other patrons came up to the bar, Derek was forced to leave the trio who had fallen into light banter. That is until Lida stalked over to them with steam practically pouring out of her ears. “Erica Reyes, what the hell do you think you’re doing? You’re supposed to be getting ready,” she said, cocking her hip as a stiletto clad foot tapped impatiently. When Erica started to respond Lida held up a hand, stopping whatever she was going to say. “You know what, forget it. We don’t have time to argue. Now get your ass back there so that I can help you get ready for the show.” With that, she spun on her heels and stalked to the back room.

“She’s going to kill me.” She swallowed hard glancing at the two men beside him. 

“Nah, just probably maim you a little,” Stiles said with a bright smile which only caused her to scowl at him making his smile even bigger. Like a soldier lining up for the death squad, she trudged to the back room. 

#

Parrish wandered away from the bar when Derek and Stiles started to argue about what the best lines were from Monty Python. But that quickly changed when he saw Boyd walk towards them. “’Sup Boyd,” Derek said when the other man took the seat next to Stiles. 

“Hey Boyd,” Stiles said with a grin at the other man.

“I wouldn’t think I’d see you tonight,” Boyd said in lieu of greeting towards the younger man. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Derek saw a young couple try to flag him down at the end of the bar. Excusing himself and seeing as Boyd and Stiles were now talking, he made his way towards the couple and took their order. Unconsciously, he shifted closer towards his friend and Stiles as Derek set to the task of making the drinks. 

“What can I say, I can't resist a man who knows how to work a stage.” Stiles winked at Boyd who only rolled his eyes. 

“I don’t care if you offer me a million dollars, the day you find me up there is the day pigs fly,” Boyd said firmly. 

“Oh come on even Peter has gotten up there a few times,” Stiles said with a pout.

“You and I both know that the only reason why Peter went up there in the first place was because he has a thing for Chris and Chris asked him to do a duet with him.” There was a beat of silence before Boyd quickly rushed, “oh no. I know that look. Whatever idea you have you better get rid of it right now because it’s not going to work.” 

Derek looked over at the two, surprised that his normally quiet friend had said so many words in one sentence. Boyd was shaking his head while his large arms were crossed, Stiles however had the biggest shit-eating grin.

“Oh come on, you haven’t even heard what my plan was,” Stiles said, nudging Boyd in the arm.

“Don’t care.”

“But you know it would be awful if someone happened to, oh let's say, send the pictures I have of you the morning after the holiday party last year to everyone you know.”

Boyd froze and slowly turned to face Stiles head-on. “You wouldn’t,” he said with narrowed eyes.

“Want to bet tough guy?” Stiles asked, quaking an eyebrow at him. 

The two stared at each other for what seemed like forever before Boyd was the first one to break. “Alright fine what’s your stupid plan?” Boyd asked in defeat.

“Well it first involves you meeting a certain little lady,” Stiles said with a triumphant smile.

“Let me guess, this little lady is here tonight?” Boyd asked and deflated even further when Stiles just nodded enthusiastically. “Fine bring her over here. I’m supposed to switch with Derek since apparently, he keeps getting distracted.” 

“Alright stay here,” Stiles said, jumping up and running to the back room where the performers usually got ready.

“Uh, is he allowed to go back there?” Derek asked as he filled a shaker with various kinds of alcohol.

“Yeah he goes back there all the time,” Boyd said with a confused look before he kicked Derek out from behind the bar to be the bouncer for the rest of the night.

Grumbling Derek walked outside and cursed whoever was in charge of the weather. What good was it to live in California when it got so cold he could see his breath. Deciding to quickly grab his jacket he ducked back into the club to see Stiles drag Erica over to where Boyd was busy filling up some guy's beer glass. Mentally kissing the warmth inside goodbye Derek went back out and tried not to think about how much he was going to freeze his nuts off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've read some of my other fics then you might have picked up on the fact that I love putting in references to some of my favorite movies #SorryNotSorry. Monty Python and the Holy Grail is another all-time favs and you should totally check it out. 
> 
> The reason why I named the drink Derek makes for Stiles 'Captian John Stith' is because John Stith Pemberton invented Coca Cola and 'Caption Morgan' is a type of rum. (IDK I thought it was funny lol🙈) 
> 
> As always, I love hearing from you and can't wait to see you in the next chapter.  
> Take care and stay safe,  
> <3 Amber


	3. Queen of Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek finds out just how much trouble Miss Chief is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is slightly shorter than my normal chapter-length since the last chapter was longer than normal.  
> Enjoy <3

The next night Derek walked up to the club, the cold night air nipped at his face. “How’s it going boss?” Boyd greeted Derek when he first walked into the bar. He was perched on one of the bar stools talking with Peter who was restocking some of the bottles behind the bar.

Walking over he clasped Boyd’s hand while pulling him close and slapping his back. “Hey man,” Derek said as the two men broke apart from the ‘man’ hug that they were doing. The clanking of bottles caught his attention and he raises his eyebrows at the multiple crates of alcohol that is waiting to be restocked. “Planing on a busy night?”

A skeevy smile pulled at Peter’s lips. “It’s better to be over-prepared than to be caught with our pants around our ankles.”

Boyd shook his head. “When you found out Issac needed the day off, you totally planned that for Miss Chief to take his spot didn’t you?” 

“Hey, it’s not like I was the one to put his grandmother in the hospital. So is advertising that Miss Chief was going to be here a crime now?” Peter asked defensively. 

“No but it’s slimy as hell,” Boyd muttered to Derek as the two got ready to open. 

The first few hours after opening weren’t as crazy as the other night, but that suited Derek just fine. It was early enough in the night that he could handle the handful of people sitting at the bar by himself, and if he were being honest, he much rather be by himself than have Peter constantly hovering over his shoulder. Even though the man had asked for his help, he was the king of micromanaging his employees. 

He saw a group of sorority girls giggling at each other while stealing glances at him. A wave of anxiety washed over him. That little voice that sounded like Kate said _their laughing at you because you look ridiculous when you try to show off by spinning the cocktail shaker in your hand_. Derek took a deep breath and tried to center himself. They probably weren’t talking about him, and even if they were why would he care? He didn’t know these girls and probably would never see them again.

“What can I get for you ladies?” he said, hoping that the smile he plastered onto his face was a friendly one.

One of the girls, the ring leader Derek surmised, gave him a leering and blatant head to toe look. “I’ll have a screaming orgasm, please,” she said leaning forward to show off her ample chest. 

Derek tried not to frown at the woman, turning to her friends he mentally took down all of their drink orders. When he turned to get started on the drinks, anger bubbled up inside of him. A woman, probably from the group of sorority girls, was bent over rummaging under the bar top where they kept all the bottles of water. Her gold mini dress riding up to barely cover her ass. Derek reached out and snag the woman’s hand a bit more forcefully than he intended causing the woman to stumble into him. Thanks to the heels the woman was wearing he was able directly into her whiskey brown eyes. Eyes that stared in shock before anger clouded them. 

“Dude what’s your problem?” the woman said jerking her hand out of his grasp. 

“You’re not supposed to be back here,” he said scowling at her. 

Suddenly her anger seemed to bleed out of her. Dropping her gaze she said, “sorry I was just thirsty, and you were busy.” Backing out from behind the bar she perched on one of the empty bar stools. “But now that you’re not busy anymore mind getting me a water?” 

He felt a hand land on his shoulder a second before his uncle’s voice reached his ears. “Derek we talked about this. No scowling while behind the bar, or else you’ll scare away the customers.” 

Derek whipped his head away from the young woman to look at Peter. “What the hel-”

“Here at Jungle we offer ‘service with a smile’,” Peter said cutting him off and squeezing his shoulder in a painful warning. 

Suddenly the flashing dance lights stopped and were directed to the stage directly across the club from the bar. “That’s my cue boys,” the young woman said before she winked at them and strutted to the stage 

The music that had been pumping through the speakers faded out and Liam’s voice replaced it. “You guys are in for a real treat. Normally she’s only here on the weekends but tonight you lovely people have the pleasure of seeing her perform. Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between put your hands together for the one, the only, Miss Chief,” Liam said, dragging out the name as the crowd cheered. 

The stage lights dimmed, and it seemed like the whole club was waiting with bated breath for the performance to start. When The Spice Girls’ ‘Wannabe’ sang through the speaker an involuntary smile tugged at the corners of Derek’s lips. Laura would make the whole family dress up as all The Spice Girls and force them to sing ‘Wannabe’ together. Not that he would ever admit it to her, but he secretly enjoyed dressing up in ridiculous costumes while he sang with his family. 

The stage lights came back on and showed the young woman from before lip-syncing the song as she danced on stage. Well, dance might have been a generous word, the young woman actually made it her bitch. The crowd seemed to love every move and step the young woman was doing. Derek knew that he definitely loved seeing her dance if one were to judge by the tightness in his pants. Suddenly the young woman hopped off the stage and started dancing with the audience, and even grinding on some of them.

“Jesus she’s trying to turn my club into a strip club,” Peter grumbled as they watched the young woman give another woman a lap dance and gratefully allowed the other woman to sick a bill down the neck of her dress. Derek just dumbly nodded, so entranced with watching her dance.

The young woman climbed back on stage to strike her final pose, with her back to the audience as the final notes faded from the club. Wolf whistles and cheers erupted from the crowd. Blowing a kiss to the audience she strutted off stage. “Miss Chief everyone,” Liam’s voice sounded throughout the club. “Straight out of Silicon Vally, please welcome Adele Laptop.”

“Who was that?” Derek asked turning towards his uncle.

“My, my, my, is little Derek infatuated with Miss Chief?” Peter said in a cooing voice that made Derek seriously fight the urge to punch his uncle in the face.

The crowd cheered as the next performer came on stage. But Derek’s eyes weren’t on stage, they were on the brunet in the sinfully short gold dress that hugged every curve of her lethal body as she made her way over to the bar. 

As Miss Chief slid back onto her stool Peter clucked his tongue at her. “You know the rules, Miss Chief. You’re not supposed to go off stage, never mind give the customer's lap dances.”

Rolling her eyes she gratefully took the bottle of water his uncle handed to her. “It’s not like I got this name for being a good little girl and following the rules,” she said with a smirk before those whiskey eyes slid over towards him. 

An _‘I’m about to stir up some shit and fuck with people ‘cuse I’m bored’_ look crossed Peter’s face. “I don’t think I’ve properly introduced you two. Miss Chief, this is my nephew Derek. Derek, this is one of my favorite performers Miss Chief.” 

Miss Chief snorted and rolled her eyes. “He’s only saying that because I bring in the most people, his true favorite is Ann.”

“Ann?” Derek asked his eyes jumping to Peter. 

“Ann T. Christ,” she said before she took a sip of her drink. Just then Boyd came running over to them to pull Peter away, leaving Derek alone with Miss Chief. 

“So you work here,” Derek said, and he wasn’t sure if he was excited or terrified at the prospect of seeing her every day.

“Yep,” she said popping the the ‘p’. 

“And that’s the reason why you were behind the bar.”

“Right again,” she said with a smile.

Derek sighed, only slightly embarrassed by the whole event. “And you were just pretending to be a customer was just to fuck with me.” 

“Look at you using those big boy brain cells instead of all that muscle,” Miss Chief said giving him a bigger smile and leaning over to ruffle his hair.

He half-heartedly batted her hand away. “You’re going to be a pain in my ass aren’t you?” he said sighing, though he could feel the corners of his mouth kicked up. The more time he spent with her the more he was looking forward to working with her. 

“Oh honey, the only times I’ll be a pain in your ass is if I don’t use enough lube.” Miss Chief cackled when Derek sputtered on air. Out of all the things he thought she would say that was definitely not one of them. “But don’t you worry that sweet ass, I’ll always make sure you’re good and prepped before any sexy time happens.” With that, she gave him a wink and walked away leaving Derek gaping like a fish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep going back and forth on if I should tell you guys the 'real' names of the drag queens/kings in the notes or if I should keep it a surprise. Let me know if you guys want to know or not.
> 
> I've never seen a live drag performance, so I'm not entirely sure if they allow the audience to tip like that lol.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.  
> Can't wait until I see you guys in the next chapter. As always I love talking with you guys and I hope you guys enjoyed it.  
> Stay safe and healthy,  
> <3 Amber


	4. Ace of Spades

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you guys think, and until next time I hope everyone is staying safe.  
> <3 Amber

Walking into The Bean Counter Derek took a deep breath as the smell of roasted coffee and freshly baked goods filled his nose. The Bean Counter was one of his favorite shops in town. The shop was fully lined with bookshelves for the customers to read. A hodgepodge of different styles of chairs and couches were scattered all over the coffee shop floor. Scanning the room and only finding stressed-out college kids, writers typing away furiously at their keyboards, and a group of new parents with their babies swaddled in fuzzy blankets, Derek took a place in line as he waited for his turn to order. Once he got his order of black coffee and a muffin he snagged a group of four armchairs near the back corner of the coffee shop. 

He glanced at his phone and frowned, Cora had said that they would be meeting fifteen minutes ago but neither his sister nor his potential new roommate were anywhere in sight. Just as he was about to shoot Cora a text asking her where the hell she was, someone called his name. Glancing up he gave his sister a disapproving look as he watched her walk towards him.

“I know I’m late, but it’s really not my fault this time. My professor would not let us go,” she said as she sat down in one of the chairs next to him and swiped his coffee that was sitting on the small table between the two chairs. Taking a sip she wrinkled her nose and quickly set the coffee back down. “Ugh, we really need to get you better taste in coffee.”

“The only reason why I get this type of coffee is because I know you don’t like it and won’t try to steal it from me,” Derek said before he took a long pull of the dark liquid. “You and I both know that everything could go right and you would still end up late to whatever it is you’re going to. I swear you’d be late to your own funeral.”

“Ha ha, ha, you’re such a comedian,” Cora deadpanned.

“Must run in the family I guess,” Derek said, giving her a cheeky grin before it quickly faded when his phone rang. Glancing down at the caller ID he excused himself and stepped outside to take the call. He had been waiting for this call for over a week. Quelling his nerves he tapped his phone screen to answer. “Hello?”

“Hi is this Derek Hale?” a woman’s voice asked through the phone's tiny speakers.

“Yes, how may I help you?”

“This is Marin Morrell from Beacon Hills Finical. Sorry about getting back to you so late.”

“Oh it’s no problem,” Derek said as nonchalant as possible, even though it was a bald-faced lie. But it’s not like they needed to know that he had been a ball of anxiety waiting for the call to tell him whether or not he got the job.

“I’m also sorry to tell you that although we truly appreciate your application, we don’t think that you would be the right fit for us at this moment. Perhaps in the future we might have an opening for you. Until then, I hope you have a good day,” Marin said and promptly hung up.

“You too,” Derek grumbled. Turning on his heels he promptly ran into someone. Out of reflex he reached out to steady them and saw that it was the guy from his first night working at Jungle. Messy brown hair peeked out of a purple beanie. Like the first time they met, the guy wore a graphic t-shirt. Only this time it had a cartoon Darth Vader with a speech bubble that said ‘come to the dark side, we have cookies’. 

“Hey dude, watch where you’re going,” the guy said brushing off the front of his shirt from any invisible dust Derek might have gotten on him.

“I’m so sorry. It’s Stiles right?” he asked as whiskey brown eyes darted up in surprise. “I’m not sure if you remember me, but I’m Derek. We sort of met at Jungle a few nights ago.”

Stiles snorted. “Dude you are many things, forgettable is not one of them.”

“Oh yeah? Well if I’m not forgettable then what’s one of the things that I am?” Derek asked as he put his hands in the front of his jean pockets and rocked back on his heels. 

“Hotter than the fucking sun,” he heard Stiles mutter under his breath before he cleared his voice and spoke at a normal volume. “Apparently someone who isn’t at all full of themselves,” he said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

“What can I say, us Greek Gods are very humble. Especially those that are every nerd's wet dream,” Derek said with a wink. He tried to hide his smile when he saw the blush that was quickly rising to the surface of Stiles’ skin. And if Stiles’ glare was anything to go by, he did a pretty freaking bad job at it. “Come on, why don’t I buy you a coffee to make up for bumping into you.” 

“It’s alright I’m supposed to meet my friend here and I’m late as it is,” Stiles said, but Derek just gave him a look that silently said that Derek was going to buy him a freaking cup of coffee, even if it was the last thing he did on earth. Sighing in defeat Stiles said, “fine if you insist.” Derek followed Stiles into the coffee shop, the younger man totally missing the victorious smile that was spread wide over Derek’s face. 

As the two stood in line they fell into light small talk when Derek felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning he saw Cora stood behind him one eyebrow cocked in accusation. “Are you really that addicted to coffee that you had to get a second cup even before you finished your first? Because if so, I’m thinking we might need to stage an intervention.”

Derek rolled his eyes, but before he could respond Stiles turned towards his sister. “What the hell are you talking about? I haven’t even ordered my first cup yet,” he asked brows drawn together in confusion.

“I wasn’t talking to you hon, I was talking to Derek,” Cora said some of the accusations she held slipping away when she noticed Stiles. 

“Wait, you two know each other?” Derek asked, his eyes darting between the two.

“Yeah, this is the friend I was talking about. Derek this is Stiles, Stiles this is my brother Derek,” she said gesturing between the two men.

“Yeah we kind of already met,” Stiles said as he shuffled his feet.

“Oh?” she asked with amusement thick in her voice as she smirked at the two. “When was this?”

“We met at Jungle when Derek was working behind the bar,” Stiles said but Cora’s eyebrows ratcheted up to her hairline in surprise. 

Cora gaped at him. “Wait let me get this straight. The guy you were talking about was Derek. My brother Derek?” Stiles shushed her, his face flaming as he stole a glance at Derek. “Oh we are so talking about this later,” she said to him before turning towards Derek, a wave of hurt washing over her face. “And you never told me you started working at Jungle.”

This time it was Derek’s turn to feel embarrassed. “Yeah, Peter offered me a job and since I’ve gotten no other options I decided to take him up on the job offer.”

“Well this ought to be interesting,” Cora mumbled to herself as she eyed Derek and Stiles. 

Before Derek could ask what she was talking about, it was Stiles’ turn to order. Once he paid for Stiles’ drink the three of them wandered back to the set of chairs Derek had first claimed when he arrived. They talked for a bit, but after a while, Derek had excused himself so the two could study in peace and without any distractions from him. Sliding into the driver's seat of his car Derek shook his head in disbelief at how small the world actually was. There wasn’t any question in his mind about whether or not to give Cora his blessing in asking if Stiles wanted to move in with them. He had instantly liked the guy when they first met, and he trusted Cora’s judge of character. If she thought he would be a good person to live with them, who was he to question her.

# 

Soft music drifted through the Bluetooth speakers as Cora and Derek worked on dinner in comfortable silence, that is until Cora decided to open her mouth and ruin the quiet evening. “So, what do you think?” Cora asked.

“About what?” he asked in confusion, not bothering to look up from the faded handwriting of his Great-great-grandmother’s recipe for paella.

“About Stiles,” Cora said as she chopped the vegetables for the salad. Derek glanced up at her, even more confused than he was before. Even though they had met Stiles at The Bean Counter a few days ago, they hadn’t mentioned the topic since. With Derek working nights and weekends at the club, and Cora going to school during the day, it seemed like they were two ships passing through the night, never having the chance to sit down and talk about it.

“What about him?”

Cora sighed and gave him a look that screamed  _ are you fucking dumb? _ “I mean what do you think about Stiles moving in?”

“I’m okay with it. He seems like a pretty cool guy.” Derek looked up in surprise when he heard the knife slam down on the wooden cutting board. 

“Alright, who are you and what have you done with my brother?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

“What?”

“The Derek I know would never just allow someone they had only just recently met to move in with them. So I’ll ask again, who are you and what have you done with my brother.”

Derek rolled his eyes at his sister's overly dramatic tone. “First, you forget that I’ve actually met him before we went to the coffee shop. Second, if you say he would be a good person to live with then I trust you and your judgment.”

“Alright I’ll go give him a call and ask him if he wants to move in with us,” Cora said, wiping her hands on her jeans before she snagged her phone that was on the counter and went into the other room to make the call.

Sometime later, Derek was setting the table when Cora came back into the room. “So? What did he say?”

“He said yes. I’ll give him a key when I see him in class tomorrow, that way he can just move in if we’re not home,” she said as she helped Derek bring the food to the table. When she saw that Derek had replaced the water glasses with wine glasses she gave him a questioning look.

“I figured that we could celebrate a little about finding a roommate,” Derek said with a shrug. Since Cora was still under the drinking age, he and Laura didn’t usually condone her drinking alcohol. But he wasn’t stupid enough to think that just because he wasn’t the one supplying her with alcohol, no one else was.

“Hey I’m not going to argue any excuse to drink,” she said, taking the offered glass of white wine with a smile. Since Laura had moved out last week, it was just the two of them for now. Soon they would be eating with another person, and hopefully things would go better than they had when Laura was living with them. At least Derek hoped it would go better, he didn’t think he could live in through the amount of fighting the two women had done.


	5. Two of a Kind

Derek startled and tore his gaze away from his computer when the large loft door squeaked opened to reveal a rather large box. Well, at least it revealed a person caring the box, but it was so large that Derek couldn’t tell who was behind it. He frowned, he could have sworn that the door was locked. “Can I help you?” he asked, and only allowed himself to take only a little bit of satisfaction when the person yelped in surprise.

“Dude you scared the crap out of me,” an unfamiliar man’s voice said as he struggled to move the large object into the loft. “Hey mind giving me a hand?”

“Mind telling me what you are doing in my loft? Or would you rather explain that to the police?” Derek asked. In truth, he had no real plan of calling the cops. It appeared that even though this guy was riding the struggle bus right now, Derek probably would have no trouble with the thing. This line of thinking had him believing that whoever had just broken into his loft could be easily taken in a fight if it came to that. 

The guy let out a pleading sound as he attempted to even keep his hold on the box. “Oh come on man! I don’t think I can hold this thing much longer.” After a few moments of watching the guy’s sad attempts at moving the large object, Derek took pity on the poor guy. Sighing that his conscience won, Derek got up and caught the box just in time before it crashed to the ground. “Hey, thanks man.”

Derek was right, although the box wasn’t light it also wasn’t heavy enough for him to struggle with it. He gave the guy a very unimpressed look. The guy was around Cora’s age, with floppy dark brown hair and a crooked jaw to match the crooked smile he was giving Derek. “I don’t like repeating myself, so I’ll ask you again. What are you doing in my loft?” Derek asked allowing just a hint of a growl through his voice while he gave the guy his most intimidating glare.

“Oh, I’m helping Stiles move in. I’m Scott by the way. And you must be the infamous Derek Hale,” Scott said. Reaching out his hand for a handshake, he quickly realized that it would have been impossible for Derek to take his hand, dropped the limb back to his side. 

“Right, so if you’re here where is-” a loud crashing sound cut Derek’s question off. The two glanced at each other, the silent ‘oh shit’ passing between them. Placing the box down he followed Scott out of the loft and into the hallway. He saw that Stiles was on his hands and knees as he picked up the spilled books and various other objects that had broken through the bottom of the box he had been caring. “Well, I guess that answers that question,” Derek mumbled to himself, and knew he spoke much louder than anticipated when Scott smothered a laugh and Stiles shot him an unamused look. As an apology, he knelt down and helped Stiles pick up the escaped things. 

“Dude, I told you that this was going to happen,” Scott said kneeling down to help them. 

Grumbling something under his breath about trading in his best friend, Stiles took the tattered remains of the box into the loft. “Come on let's just get this over with before you abandon me for practice.”

“So, do you need any help bringing anything else up?” Derek asked looking over a very weary Stiles. 

Stiles gave him a grateful smile. “Yeah, actually if you could help us bring up some of the other boxes that would be such a huge help.” 

For the rest of the afternoon, the three of them unpacked Stiles’ jeep. Derek was surprised at just how much stuff Stiles had and wondered how the hell he was able to get everything into the small two-door rust bucket in the first place. The shrill ringing of Scott’s phone cut through the music that they had playing to keep them motivated enough to finish the mammoth task of bringing all of Stiles’ stuff up to the loft. 

“Aw shit, Coach is going to skin my ass,” Scott mumbled before he answered the phone. There was a beat of silence as Scott listened to whoever was talking to him on the other end of the line, wincing every now and then at what they said. “Yeah, I know, I’m on my way….No, I’m in the car right now….Of course I’m telling you the truth. Why would I lie to you?…Oh, come on that was one time, are you seriously going to hang it over my head?…. Fine, I’ll be there soon,” Scott said into the phone and then promptly hung up. 

“Jackson?” Stiles asked and Scott nodded giving him an apologetic look. “No worries dude, we got this. You go and make sure Jackson doesn’t do anything stupid like actually listen to Coach.” The two shared a smile before Scott left them, boxes strewed all over the loft.

Derek had forgotten just how overwhelming unpacking from a move could be. Opening the box labeled ‘kitchen’ Derek frowned. “Didn’t Cora tell you that we have a fully stocked kitchen already?” Derek asked, looking up from the large box of plates, pots, and other kitchen items. He glanced over at Stiles as he walked back into the kitchen and living room area to bring another box into his new bedroom.

“Well yeah, but I’ve seen her kitchen skills. I highly questioned her judgment on whether or not we _actually_ would have all the necessary stuff to make food besides cereal.”

“What did you do to piss her off enough to have her subjugate you to her cooking?” Derek asked with a laugh. Out of everyone in the family, Derek was by far the better cook out of his two sisters. It wasn’t even a secret, and the two of them had accepted that fact along time ago.

Stiles rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. “We made a bet on who would win the Super Bowl. The loser had to cook dinner for the other.”

A chuckle bubbled up from Derek’s chest. “That was your first mistake.”

“Hey, I thought that she was kidding when she said she was a terrible cook.”

“And your second was underestimating just how much she sucks at it. What did she even make anyway?”

“Well, she said that she made some casserole dish that her grandmother used to make. But I highly doubt that Grandma Hale had intended for the casserole to move when you poked it,” Stiles said shuddering from the memory.

Derek laughed so much that his sides started to hurt. “Oh man, I would have killed to be a fly on the wall at that dinner.”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up buck-o,” Stiles grumbled good-naturedly. “At least we won't starve since I have an inside man at the 24-hour Chinese food place down the street.”

“Hey you know we Hales aren’t all terrible cooks.”

“I didn’t know Laura could cook. You think she’ll at least stop by once a month to drop off some leftovers?”

Derek balled up a kitchen cloth and chucked it at Stiles. “I’ll have you know that I’m by far the best cook in the Hale family, thank you very much.”

Stiles hummed while he picked up the cloth. “Sure I’ll believe it when I see it. Just give me a heads up before you cook anything, that way I’ll have my doctor on standby in case anything goes wrong.”

“Why you little shit,” Derek said with a playful grumble before springing up from the floor to chase Stiles, the two of them grinning as they ran around the loft. Eventually, Derek managed to catch Stiles, but the wiry little bastard had shifted his weight causing both to go tumbling down. Derek thankfully had enough time to shift his body so that Stiles would land on him and not the hard floor. When they hit the floor the breath was punched out of both their lungs. Derek stared up into whiskey brown eyes, close enough to see the individual little flecks of gold in his iris. They both stayed in the same position as when they landed, each trying to catch their breath.

“Really dude? You both have your own room you can do that in,” Cora said standing in the loft doorway, her book bag slung over one shoulder.

At the sound of Cora’s voice, Stiles jumped up as if Derek had burned him. Plastering on the fakest smile Derek had ever seen, Stiles let out a strained laugh. “What? No! There was nothing going on. I should probably get back to unpacking. So, bye.”

“Jesus Derek, the kid hasn’t moved in for five seconds and you already pounce on him?” Cora admonished.

Derek frowned. “It wasn’t like that we were just goofing around and fell, that’s when you walked in.” 

Cora let out a scoff. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s exactly what happened, just how I’m a pink fluffy bunny.”

#

A month had passed and the three fell into an easy routine. It was surprisingly pleasant living with Stiles. Even if every so often he would catch a glimpse of the young man in nothing but a towel as he either made his way to or from the shower. But Derek would take the tempting sight of Stiles over his sisters fighting any day. The only problem was that it seemed like Derek couldn’t get any relief from the sexual tension that was thrumming through his veins. Between living with Stiles and working with Miss Chief Derek was finding himself spending a lot of time taking very cold showers and thinking about any boner killing thing that came to mind.

Derek let out a yawn as he walked into the kitchen, scratching his stomach absentmindedly as he made his way over to the coffee pot. He thanked whatever glorious person who had already made the coffee, still fresh and warm in the stainless steel pot. It wasn’t until he let out a moan after he swallowed the hot liquid did he notice the sound that filled the kitchen. Or rather the lack of it. He hadn’t noticed the clicking of someone furiously typing away until the person suddenly stopped. Turning he saw Stiles was sitting at the kitchen table, staring at him as he swallowed hard, completely ignoring the open laptop in front of him. He let out a grunt as a good morning greeting to Stiles and made his way over to where he sat at the table, coffee pot in hand. Once he had settled in the seat across from him, Stiles went back to typing, although not as furiously as he had been before. 

It wasn’t until he was halfway through his second cup of coffee that he realized that Stiles was here and not where ever it was he went every Saturday. That was also around the time that Derek noticed the dark circles that hung heavy under his dull eyes. “Why are you here?” he blurted out. Apparently, though his faculties seemed to be fully awake and functioning, his filter had yet to join the party.

“Excuse me?” Stiles asked offense and disbelief lining his face. 

Derek winced. “That came out wrong-”

“Ya think?” Stiles snorted and crossed his arms.

“What I meant to say is why are you here and not where ever it is you normally go on Saturdays.” 

“Got a paper due so I’m working on it,” he said with a shrug.

“Right, and when was the last time you slept?”

Stiles looked at the clock and winced. “Last Wednesday.”

It was Derek’s turn to snort this time. Draining the last of his coffee he stood up. “Alright save whatever you’re working on.”

“But what about my paper?” Stiles whined as he tried to continue to type as Derek pulled away his chair from the table, taking Stiles with it. Despite the laptop was getting further and further away, Stiles fruitlessly tried to continue typing.

“Taking a 15-minute break won't hurt you. I haven’t been out of college for that long to forget that professors rarely if ever have due dates on the weekend,” Derek said and smiled when Stiles pouted and crossed his arms in a huff. “Why don’t you take a power nap.”

Stiles shook his head. “Cant, my brain won’t shut down until I finish it.”

“Alright,” Derek said and then hummed in thought before the proverbial light bulb went off over his head. “I’m pretty sure that there is a Doctor Who marathon going on.”

“So?”

“So I was planning on watching it, why don’t you join me,” Derek said while Stiles shot a disbelieving look at him. “You still don’t believe I’m a nerd, don’t you?”

“Well I never hear you talking about nerd culture and I’ve yet to see any nerd contraband. So sorry if I’m still a little skeptical.”

“That’s probably because all my ‘nerd contraband’ is in my room.”

“Was that an invitation?” Stiles asked leaning in and dropping his voice.

Derek rolled his eyes and guided him towards the couch, dutifully ignoring the butterflies in his stomach. “Would you just relax and watch the show.” Figuring that Stiles was sleep drunk, and wasn’t serious about his comment, Derek sat down next to him and flicked on the TV. He figured his theory was correct when after only a few minutes later he felt Stiles’ head lolled against his shoulder. Not having the heart to wake him once he had fallen asleep, Derek settled down further into the couch and watched the rest of the episode. 

#

_ Derek sat in one of the booths at Jungle, angling his body to get the perfect view of the empty stage. But that wasn’t the only thing that was empty. Glancing around the club he saw that he was the only one there, despite the strobing and colored lights that darted all around. However, the club wasn’t silent. The opening soundtrack to Doctor Who was playing through the speakers. The large stage light came on, illuminating two people who sat in a chair. Their backs were to him, but he could tell that a man with brown hair and slim build held a brunette on his lap. The brunette’s hair flowed in waves down her back, and just like the man, she too had a slim build. Derek itched to find out who was on stage. He had never seen a duet perform, though he knew that they happened if the tales of Peter and Ann’s performance were to be true.  _

_ It was like a switch was flipped when the music picked up-tempo. One second the two were stone still, the next they were dancing. The woman got off of the man and spun on her heels to pin him with a smile. Derek felt his jaw drop when he saw that the woman was Miss Chief and curiosity tugged his gaze to the man and saw that Stiles was sitting in the chair. He was hunch forward, his hungry gaze flashing between Miss Chief and Derek. Giving Derek a wink she spun back to face Stiles and held out her hand, drawing him up from the chair. Grinning he took her hand spinning her into his arms so that her back faced his front and the two slowly began to dance. Derek watched entranced as the two moved to the rhythm. He nearly swallowed his tongue when Miss Chief curled one finger at him, beckoning him forward. Giving her a dumb nod that caused her and Stiles to smirk at him, he stood and inexplicably found himself on stage with Stiles and Miss Chief in front of him. At the same time they both pushed him back into the chair, startled and honestly not wanting to resist, Derek complied and fell back. Miss Chief circled around him as she ran a hand up his arm to his shoulder, and over the top of his back. Stiles climbed onto his lap and began to grind down, flashing a devilish smile. Between the weight on his lap and the ghostly breath that washed over the side of his neck, he shivered with pleasure. _

_“You like that baby?” Miss Chief asked in a breathless tone, her breath puffing over his ear. Derek nodded, still unable to speak for fear of breaking whatever spell was over them. She giggled as she backed up, the click of a cell phone camera filtered through his consciousness_.

With a grumble, Derek opened his eyes and squinted against the harsh afternoon light. Looking around to see what pulled him from such an amazing dream he saw Cora slip her phone into her back pocket. “Had a nice nap?” she asked in a much too cheerful voice for his liking. Cora was only ever this cheerful when she was either a) up to something or b) had some piece of information or evidence against whoever she directed that tone towards. Either way, Derek knew he was fucked.

He scowled at her before he tried to rub the sleep from his eyes. “Is there some reason why you decided to wake me?” he asked his voice course from sleep. His movement must have jostled Stiles who was still resting on his shoulder. Derek wanted to kick himself for forgetting that the younger man was there to begin with and hated that he had caused his eyelids to flutter open.

Stiles gave Derek a sleepy smile before sitting fully up. On one hand, Derek lamented that he had lost Stiles’ comforting weight, on the other hand, he greatly appreciated the sliver of stomach Stiles flashed when he stretched. Derek knew that the young man was toned, but wasn’t expecting the amount of definition he quickly saw before Stiles’ shirt fell back into place. “What time is it?” he asked, brows pinched together in confusion as his gaze jumped between Derek and Cora.

“3:30,” Cora said with a shrug. Why doesn’t she use her ‘I’m going to fuck with you later so watch out’ tone on Stiles? He whined to himself before a very unhelpful voice suggested it was probably because they were siblings, and Stiles wasn’t. 

Stiles' eyes went comically wide before he whipped around to level Derek with an accusatory look. “Why the hell didn’t you wake me up?”

“As much as I would have, I couldn’t since I had fallen asleep also,” Derek said pulling on his best poker face as he lied to Stiles. Well, it was only a half-lie really. Even if he had been awake he wouldn’t have woken up the sleep-deprived young man. Grumbling something under his breath Stiles got up and went back over to his computer, fingers picking up speed as he slowly woke back up.


	6. King of Spades

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: Talking about past abuse and flashbacks about family dismissing the abuse allegations. 
> 
> I know that it might not trigger most people, but if you think that you might be triggered, please take care of yourself. If you choose to skip this chapter just look at the notes at the end of the chapter for the main things that happened.

Lights flashed to the pounding base that rocked through the writhing bodies dancing and having fun. Some having a little too much fun in Derek’s opinion. He glared at the couple who were heavily making out while they rested against the bar blocking seats. Tapping on the guy's shoulder he said, “sorry, but you guys should move this party elsewhere.” 

“Dude what the fuck! What’s your problem?” the guy asked, anger washing off of him in waves.

“My problem is that you two are blocking seats where paying customers can get drinks,” he said with a sneer. The guy huffed, grabbing his date’s hand they stormed off. 

“Finally I thought they would never leave,” a familiar voice said, and for a second his body froze. Taking in a deep breath he turned to see Kate sitting at the bar. Her white tank top showed off her toned arms. Blond hair spilled over her shoulders and down her back. She was smiling like the cat who ate the canary, the look of it set his teeth on edge. 

_What the fuck is she doing here?_ He thought to himself. Swallowing his fear he walked over to her. Even though the breakup had been two years ago, those mental wounds she had given him hadn’t fully scabbed over yet. He tried to remind himself that she couldn’t hurt him, not anymore. In as neutral of a tone as possible, he got out, “what can I get you?” 

“Aw sweetheart that’s really kind of you, but I was wondering if I could buy you a drink?” she asked fluttering her lashes giving him the same smile that drew him to her the last time. He wanted to snort at her attempt to weasel into his life again. The same tricks and tactics wouldn’t work now; now that he had experienced what would happen if he took the bait and went back to her.

“No, but I’ll take the money,” he said and smirked as he watched the sweet exterior melt to reveal the nastiness beneath.

“Wha-yo- you can’t say things to me like that!” she said anger rising to the surface, her face turning red with rage. A large part of him was relieved that she had actually gotten angry at him. It showed him that he made the right decision to break up with her. The longer the break up had been the more Derek questioned if it was really all that bad. If he just blew things out of proportion and it was his fault for over reacting. But seeing this, seeing her react like that just reconfirmed that he made the right decision in leaving her.

“Sorry sweetheart but staff can’t drink on the job,” he said sneering the pet name she had given him. The same one he asked her over and over to stop using. “So if you were already planning on spending the money just cut out the middle man and give the money to me. You would have ended up having the same results regardless if you gave me the money or bought me a drink.” Derek watched her as she narrowed her eyes and her hand twitched. He knew she wanted to hit him. Hell, she would probably give up her firstborn so that she could hit him without any repercussions at the moment. Thankfully Derek didn’t have the four walls of their apartment to box him in and give her the allusion that it was okay to let loose and take her anger and frustration out on him. “So I suggest you either buy a drink or go dance because you can’t sit here for free.” 

They stared at each other, her waiting for him to back down as he had so much in the past, and him wanting to make sure the damned bitch would actually leave. Finally, she snarled at him and turned to walk away. Derek let out a sigh of relief when he saw her leave the club entirely. He turned to another customer to take their order, chatting with them as he made them their drinks trying to mentally shake off seeing Kate again.

A little while later Derek noticed that less and less people were buying drinks. Instead, they seemed to be congregating towards the other side of the club where the stage was. The strobe lights stopped and a center stage as the light was cast on the raised platform. “All right all you fend and felons, it’s time to welcome Abby Normal to the stage,” Liam said after the music had faded from the speakers. The crowd clapped as a woman with heavily done make-up walked onto the stage. 

He was expecting her to sing as Miss Chief had done, instead, she went into a comedy routine. Halfway through her set she had Derek laughing so hard that he was starting to get a cramp in his side as tears welled in his eyes. Abby Normal was amazing. Her comedy was dry and dark, which just happened to be the type of humor Derek had. 

“You enjoying the show nephew?” Peter asked as he leaned against the fridge that made ice, granting him an unobstructed view of the show.

“You enjoying living up to the ‘creepy uncle’ trope?” Derek shot back, not even bothering to look at him.

“It was just a question, no need to get so defensive. What crawled up your butt?” Peter said hurt rolling off of him in waves.

“Sorry, it’s just that Kate came in today,” Derek said unable to meet his uncle's gaze from the shame of how he acted. Rationally he knew he shouldn’t lash out, that it wasn’t Peter’s fault that she was such a psycho bitch that wouldn’t leave him alone.

“Kate? Wasn’t she one of your ex-girlfriends?” Peter asked causing Derek to flinch at her name.

“Yeah she was the one who was abusing me the few years we were together,” Derek said his voice sounding hollow and dead to his own ears.

“Derek I’m so sorry, I didn’t know. Give me her name and a photo of her so that I can put her on the Blocked list,” Peter said pushing off of the fridge they were leaning on.

Derek gaped at Peter. He never would have guessed that Peter would take this seriously. If he were a betting man, he would have put serious money on Peter brushing it off like many of his other family members had, or worse taunt him about it. Derek winced remembering what his mother had said when he had told her what was happening. _‘Derek, are you sure that’s really what’s going on? I’m sure you were just upset and made a mountain out of a molehill. Go back and see if you can fix it with her. She’s such a nice young woman, it’s hard to believe that she did all those things to you._ ’ It was only when he came to the mandatory Hale family dinner a week later did she realize just how bad it was. It was much harder to cover a black eye than it was to hide the bruised ribs he had gotten thanks to her.

“Derek? Are you in there?” Peter asked pulling him out of the painful memories. He was so engulfed in the memories that he didn’t even realize that they were in Peter’s office. Peter looked at him with concern as he held a clipboard.

“Why are you doing this?” Derek asked his voice so small he didn’t even recognize it.

“Because I want the people I care about to be safe,” he said nonchalantly.

“But Mom…when I told her about it she just brushed it off,” Derek said fighting back the tears that were welling in his eyes.

Peter’s eyes soften, all pretense of nonchalant gone from his person. “I’m doing this because I know what it’s like to be abused and have people brush it off,” Peter said as he led them to the couch. “When I was in college I was with a woman who was abusive. At first, it was the little things. Sometimes she would tell me that the dinner I had worked all day on wasn’t good enough. Or that I was selfish if I ordered something expensive off of the menu. She would make snide comments on my body, and would constantly compare me to past partners and other people. Then it escalated to physical stuff. She would slap me if I did something wrong, or while we were fighting. When my best friend saw the bruises he convinced me that I needed to leave her. When my parents asked why I left her, I told them and they didn’t believe that a sweet girl like that was capable of abuse. They tried to convince me that I should get back together with her.”

“Did you?”

“Yeah. Our relationship was on-again, off-again for years. It wasn’t until a particularly bad beating that I knew I had to end things with her for good.” Peter’s eyes became distant, as the memories clawed their way to the surface. Derek stared at his uncle and realized that even though Peter was only 15 years older than him, he hadn’t ever really spent time with him enough to truly get to know him. When his parents were alive they would always hold Peter at arm's length and treated him as the black sheep of the family. As much as he loved his parents, in that moment he resented their actions against Peter and the words they had said to Derek. Clearing his throat Peter shook himself back to the present. “Anyway, what do you want us to do? If you don’t want us to put her on the Blocked list then we won't. Although I would strongly advise that you do so.”

Derek nodded. “Put her on the list. I never want to see that bitch again.” Though his tone was strong, he felt anything but. It took every fiber of his being to say that, afraid of the repercussions that may happen if Kate tried to come back to the club.

Peter gave him an understanding smile, softening his face. “Don’t worry if I have anything to say about it, she’ll never bother you again. If you don’t feel like your ready to get back to work stay here for as long as you need.” Peter handed him the clipboard and squeezed his shoulder in support before he left him alone to go back out to tend to the bar. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you chose to skip this chapter, Peter and Derek bond over past abusive relationships they've had and the fact that their family didn't believe that it was happening to them. 
> 
> 10 points if you caught the Mel Brooks reference. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it, and let me know if there is anything that I could improve upon.  
> As always, stay safe and healthy,  
> Amber<3


	7. Pair of Jacks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. So I'll be honest, I'm not too happy with the way this turned out. So sorry in advance. Let me know if you think there's anything that I can improve on.
> 
> Stay safe,  
> Amber<3

A few nights had passed since the Kate incident, and thankfully she hadn’t been spotted near the club since. Though, Derek wasn’t letting his guard down any time soon. 

A half an hour before they were open Derek found himself stooped down underneath the bar, moving bottles around so they’d be easier to get. Suddenly someone was banging on the bar top and a familiar voice called, “can’t a girl get any service around here.” Startled Derek went to stand up, but ended up smashing his head against the underside of the bar counter, completely forgetting that he was under the bar.

“Ow,” he said backing up so that he wouldn’t do it a second time. Rubbing his head he stood up and saw Miss Chief sitting in her usual spot at the end of the bar. Derek almost swallowed is tongue when he saw her. She looked like a sexy version of the Sugar Plum Fairy, with her short fluffy skirt, baby pink corset, and matching wig cut into a short shaggy style. “Yeah sorry, I just wasn’t expecting anyone to come and demand drinks before we were even open.”

“Sorry, I thought you were in the back. If I had known that you were under there I wouldn’t have banged on the counter top,” she said her eyes filling with concern. “Here, let me take a look at it.” 

“Why? Are you a medical professional?” Derek asked jokingly as he rounded the bar to stand in front of her. 

“Um, no, I’m majoring in Crime and Justice.” 

“Really? Planning on becoming a cop?” 

“Yeah, my handcuffs get stir crazy if I don’t take them out of the bedroom every once in a while.” Miss Chief smirked at Derek’s shocked expression. 

_Danger! Danger Will Robson! Change the topic!_ he wracked his brain trying to think of something other than her with handcuffs in the bedroom. “So you’re not a medical professional, are you sure I shouldn’t get Liam to take a look? He is premed after all,” Derek said as he stood in front of her. 

She rolled her eyes and hooked a finger into one of his belt loops to pull him closer. She was surprisingly strong, causing him to stumble forward into the v of her legs. Her thighs bracketing his to keep him in place. “Just get over here. Trust me I know a lot more about how to treat head wounds.” 

“Get into a lot of fights?” he asked his eyes moving all over her face. He knew he needed to stop. She was his co-worker for crying out loud, and the last thing he wanted to do was make her feel uncomfortable at work. He’d seen the way she interacted with others, so it wasn’t like she was only flirty with him. 

The corners of her mouth kicked up, but her eyes didn’t crinkle like they usually did when she smiled at him. “Unfortunately yes, but you can only know the story if you unlock friendship level 15.” 

“And what friendship level am I at right now?” he asked. He wanted to be friends with her, as dorky as that sounded. She was smart as a whip and took no one’s shit. But she was also kind and selfless, constantly trying to make the lives of her co-workers easier. 

“Honey, you haven’t even clicked out of the tutorial yet,” she said all signs of sadness gone from her face as she smiled at him. “Now come here so I can take a look at that cut.” She grabbed the sides of his head, her palms cupping his cheeks while her long fingers carded into his hair. Tilting his head to get a better look she assessed the damage he’d done to himself. It was fascinating to watch her work, as she hummed and muttered things as she looked over his head. When she was done their eyes locked for a heated second. 

It would have been so easy to lean in, closing the slight space between them and fall into a kiss. If one of them just leaned forward a little those plush red-painted lips would touch his own. Derek searched her eyes, wondering if she felt the same pull he did. He wondered if she would welcome the kiss, or if it would ruin whatever tentative friendship they had. One of her hands moved, sliding to wrap around the back of his head. She sucked in a breath when his hands landed on her waist. The corset's smooth fabric gliding under his hands. 

“You two love birds ready to open or shall I give you more time?” Peter’s snide remark made them jump apart. Well, at least it made Derek jump apart since Miss Chief was still sitting on the barstool. With a satisfied smirk, he walked away. Derek inwardly groaned knowing Peter would hang this moment over his head for the foreseeable future.

“Right, yeah. I’ll just…” Miss Chief said sliding off of the bar stool. With a final nod, she ran, leaving a dust shadow in her wake. Derek wanted to kick himself, he hated how weak his resolve was. Wasn’t he just telling himself that he needed to stop? 

He turned but paused when he saw Abby Normal sitting at the bar, a knowing smile playing on her lips. “You guys make a really cute couple.” 

“We’re just friends.” 

“Right. Because I always almost kiss my friends,” Abby Normal said rolling her eyes. 

“That wasn’t-we weren't- that’s not what happened,” Derek stuttered, a blush climbing onto his cheeks.

“You just keep telling yourself that bud,” she said sliding off of the barstool to pat his cheek. The overhead lights dimmed while the Technicolor lights came on. Music pumped out onto the dance floor signaling that they were officially open. Smirking she turned to go backstage, leaving him scowling at her retreating back.

#

Derek was glad when the rest of the week passed with relatively minor incidents. Surprisingly it was particularly packed tonight, even more so than the normal nights when Miss Chief and her crew performed. “Hey Cora,” Derek said absentmindedly as he tried to quickly gather all the necessary ingredients for a particularly complicated drink that ‘Hipster Guy #273’ had ordered. It wasn’t until he was halfway through making the drink did it hit him that his baby sister was sitting on the other side of the bar, neon-colored drink in her hands. “That better be non-alcoholic,” he growled at her, sending her a look that would curdle milk.

“What, this thing?” she asked innocently before taking a sip and smacked her lips in satisfaction. Derek gave her a very unamused look. “Dude, you need to take a chill pill, I’m only messing with you. Between you, Peter and Boyd you really think I’d get away with drinking when I’m still underage here?”

“What are you doing here Cora, besides making my night even more exasperating than it already was,” he asked her as he slid the drink to the hipster, frowning when the guy only put a dollar bill in the tip glass. _Goddamn freaking hipsters_ , he thought as he glared at the guys retreating back as he made his way onto the dance floor.

“I’ll have you know, my friend invited me to see them perform,” she said in a haughty tone.

“What friend? Because I’m pretty sure I’ve met the three friends you have and none are here tonight, let alone performing,” he said cocking a brow at her. Letting out an offending sound, she was about to respond when a familiar voice joined the conversation.

“Dude! I can’t believe you came!” Miss Chief said giving Cora a one-arm hug. Her long brown hair was in two low ponytails that fell in soft waves down her back. Her top, if one could even call it that, was a mesh crop top with a black bra underneath. She had on a high-waisted plaid mini skirt with a thick studded belt. Black thigh highs encased her long legs and black platform heels only added to her tall frame. Her eyes were lined with thick black eyeliner, and her lips were painted a deep plum shade, a sharp contrast to her pale skin. 

“Like you’d have given me any other choice in the matter,” Cora said with a smile as she bumped Miss Chief’s shoulder. 

“Smart woman. So does that mean that you’re going to come out of retirement and join us on stage?” she asked wiggling her eyebrows excitedly.

“Retirement?” Derek asked Cora who dutifully ignored him and gave Miss Chief a hard look.

“You still haven’t told him?” Miss Chief asked with wide eyes, gaze jumping between the two siblings.

“Uh yeah! You remember the last time I performed.”

“Oh come on it wasn’t that bad.”

“Wasn’t that bad?! They had to call your dad to break up the brawl and we almost all went to jail because of it!”

“But we didn’t,” Miss Chief said with a wide grin.

“Hold on a second. What the hell are you two talking about? When were you in a brawl and almost went to jail? And why the hell am I just finding this out now?” Derek said, his anger rising with each word that left his mouth. He and Lura tried their best to keep their baby sister out of trouble, but it looked like the damned thing seemed to follow her around like a puppy. He remembered when she was still in high school and fell into a bad crowd, but it seemed like she had left those types of people when she went to college. When the same Goddamn Hipster came back to the bar and rudely called him over Derek gave Cora a hard look. “This conversation isn’t done.”

“Are you sure you used 100% hand-crafted agave fruit juice in this?” Hipster Guy #273 asked in a haughty tone. 

Grinding his teeth together he gave the guy a hostile smile. “Yes, I’m sure. If you want you can go digging through the trash to find the bottle that we used.” Seeing the guy blanch and suppress a gag cooled some of Derek’s anger.

He glanced to where he last saw Cora, a shard of concern worked its way into his stomach when he saw a blond frat-boy try and chat his sister up. Try being the keyword there, considering both she and Derek were having none of it. When Frat-boy #18 trailed a finger along Cora’s forearm, she gripped it tightly and wrenched it back, causing the guy to cry out in pain. Glaring at his sister the guy hightailed it out of there. He didn’t really have any time to dwell on it before he heard Liam announce that Miss Chief, Abby Normal, and Adel Laptop were performing. The start of ‘Buttons’ by the Pussycat Dolls started to play at the same time as the stage was lit up. Miss Chief was in the front with either woman flanking her sides. Just like all the other times he’d watched her perform, this time was no different. He was mesmerized by her effortless movements and the sensuality that oozed from her. The other women were good, but none could even come close to Miss Chief in Derek’s opinion. 

“Here,” Cora said shoving a napkin into his chest once they were alone. At least as alone two people can be in a crowded club.

“What the hell is this for?” he asked staring at the piece of paper in confusion.

“It’s to wipe the drool from your chin,” she said with a smirk. 

“Smart-ass,” he grumbled at her.

“Hey better to be a smart-ass than a dumb-ass,” Cora countered, pointing a finger at him, completely unaware of the new presents next to her.

“Oh don’t you worry you’re that too,” Liam said taking the vacant barstool next to his sister.

“I’m surprised that you were able to get away from the DJ booth.”

“Playlists my friend, are a wonderful thing,” he said giving Derek and Cora a smirk. “And besides it’s not every day that I get to see the famous Cora Hale.”

“I literally see you every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday when we have our English class.” She rolled her eyes, but Derek saw the slight smile she was giving the young DJ. Hey anyone is better than Frat-boy #18, Derek thought to himself. The two fell into an easy, if albeit, slightly flirty conversation for the rest of the night.

#

The club was quiet once the last patron had been guided out of the building. Derek was taking inventory when he saw Boyd sitting at the bar. “Sorry but last call was 20 minutes ago,” he said in a teasing tone that caused Boyd to give him a very unamused look.

“I need your help,” Boyd said, his gaze a mixture of desperation and seriousness. 

“No problem, what do you need help with?” Derek asked. The two of them had been through some tough times, and both would do just about anything if the other was asking for help. Considering Boyd was one of the proudest and most stubborn guy he knew, Derek couldn’t say no when the man asked him for help.

“Erica’s sorority is throwing a party and she’s dragging me along with her.”

“And so now you’re going to drag me to the blasted thing aren’t you?” Derek said shaking his head in amusement. “You know if you’re going to try to give me a puppy dog look, the least you could do is take a few pointers from Cora. Because, man let me tell you, you really suck at it.”

“So does that mean that you’re coming?” he asked with hopeful optimism.

“Sure, just text me the details,” Derek said before returning to his task of taking inventory. 


	8. Two of Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek goes to a party and runs into some new and familiar faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that not all Greek life parties like that, I know my co-ed fraternity didn't (we were total geeks and like to party by playing super smashed bros or watching geeky movies). Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. Let me know if there are any mistakes. 
> 
> Stay safe,  
> Amber<3

If it wasn’t for the dozens of people filling into the white two-story house, Derek wouldn’t have ever guessed that there was a party going on inside. Once he stepped through the thresh hold and into the dimly lit house, the air hazy from a mix of hookah, vapes, and joints. The pounding bass of club music rolled through him as he weaved through the throngs of people packed inside. He searched the crowd looking for Boyd, relieved when he saw the man playing beer pong on the kitchen table. He was surprised when he saw Frat-boy #18 was at the other end. He didn’t think that the frat-boy ran in the same circles that Erica did, but then again frat-boys usually were ones to never say no to a party. Derek stood with the others as the game continued, cheering when Boyd got the ball into Frat-boy #18’s cup. The guy downed what was in his red solo cup, and handed it to a dark-haired guy asking him for a silent refill. Eventually, Boyd ended up winning by a landslide.

“Best two out of three,” Frat-boy #18 said, his words slightly slurred.

“Come on Jackson a bet's a bet,” someone in the crowd called out. Jackson turned to where the person stood and narrowed his eyes.

“Fine,” he grumbled and walked off to do whatever bet he had made.

Boyd smiled and came over to where Derek stood, allowing two new people to play. “I didn’t think you’d actually be here, but I’m really glad you came.” Out of nowhere, Erica was suddenly draped over him, as she gave Derek a stoned smile, her eyes bloodshot. “I should probably take care of this one. But you have fun, and help yourself to anything in the kitchen.”

Derek thanked him before Boyd carried Erica through the house and into her bedroom. He looked over the different types of alcohol they had, somewhat impressed that a college party had this much high-end booze. After quickly mixing himself a drink, he made his way towards the living room. Seeing as all the seats were taken on the couch he leaned up against the wall as he scanned the room. Many of the people on the couch and chairs were talking amongst themselves. Since the speakers were set up here, the middle of the living room had turned into a makeshift dance floor. 

“Having any fun?” a woman asked. Looking over he saw that a woman about his age with dark wavy hair leaned against the wall next to him. She had skin-tight black jeans and a red crop top. She was classically attractive, but Derek wasn’t in the mood to be hit on by a random stranger. He got enough of that when he was at work.

‘I was’ was on the tip of his tongue, but he quickly swallowed the words. “Sure,” he said with a shrug as he turned his gaze back out onto the crowd, hoping she would take the hint.

“I’m Jennifer,” the woman said with a sultry smile. Derek thanked whoever was looking out for him when he spotted Stiles dancing rather poorly and way off rhythm. A genuine smile bloomed on his lips, but unfortunately, Jennifer thought that it was directed at her. “What do you say we get out of here?” she asked. 

Derek made a noncommittal sound and walked away from the woman, his attention solely on pale flying limbs. Walking up behind Stiles, he leaned toward the young man so he wouldn’t have to shout over the music. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

Stiles’ flailing suddenly ceased as he spun around, only to stumble from the movement. “Whoa,” he said catching himself but not before Derek could pull back his arms that reached out of their own accord to stabilize the young man. Stiles smiled up at Derek, his eyes slightly glossy from the alcohol he had been drinking. “What are you doing here? I thought that you were like, allergic to fun or something.”

“Are you kidding, I’m the king of fun times,” Derek deadpanned.

“Oh yeah? Then prove it. Beer-pong, you and me,” Stiles said jutting his chin up in a challenge. Derek smirked at him, little did Stiles know he had been a rather good beer-pong player when he was back in school. Agreeing to the challenge, Stiles took one of the hands that were still on his hips and led him through the house and into the kitchen. “Alright Jackson, move your ass it’s my turn against Derek.”

# 

Not surprisingly, Derek had kicked Stiles’ butt in beer-pong. Leaving the man with a gaze filled with a mixture of awe and astonishment. That is until a pretty Asian woman had dragged Stiles away. Derek tried to ignore the pang of disappointment as he watched Stiles fade into the crowded room. “Well you look like you’re having the time of your life,” a familiar voice said. Spinning around Derek saw Braden, red solo cup in hand and her signature smirk on her lips. 

“Wow, of all the places I’d expect to see you, a college party wasn’t one of them,” he said a small smile tugging on his lips. Derek had met the no-nonsense ball buster while he was in college. They had ended up working at the same work-study program at a local after-school center. The center helped impoverished kids stay off of the streets and give them a safe place for them to hang out. It also employed the local college kids as tutors and mentors for the children. Because of his size and perpetual scowl, it took a while for the kids to warm up to him. Whereas it was the complete opposite with Braden. With her petite frame and sweet smile, when she bothered to use it, the kids instantly took to her. That is until one day one of them pissed her off by trying to bully another kid. Once she was done giving the kid a verbal lashing the kids had a healthy dose of respect and fear for her. Spying a free chair and empty spot on the couch, Derek and Braden snagged them and caught up on what they had been up to. 

They lost track of time, so engrossed with the conversations they were having they didn’t notice that the party was starting to wind down. That is until a sudden weight landed on Derek’s lap, causing the air to be punched out of his lungs. “Stiles what are you doing?” he asked with a tired sigh as he stared at the young man in his lap. Stiles had thrown his legs over one arm of the chair, while one arm came around Derek’s back to rest over his shoulder. On instinct one of Derek’s arms wrapped around Stiles to rest on his outer leg, the other resting on Stiles’ knee. Derek tried to not let the pleasure of Stiles cuddling with him show on his face. 

“There weren’t any seats available.” Stiles shrugged as if it had been obvious. Braden gave a snort and Stiles shot some serious side-eye in return. “So who’s your friend?”

“I’m Braden, and you are….” Braden trailed off the question, a knowing smile on her face. Derek wanted to smack his head against the wall, she had always been able to see past his rough exterior and read him like no other. There was no doubt in Derek’s mind that she saw through his act of nonchalance to what it truly was, unrequited longing for this to be real. 

“Stiles,” he said in a clipped tone. Snaking his hand up Derek’s chest to lock with the hand that curled around his shoulder. Derek stamped down any hope that bloomed in his chest at the possessive move Stiles made. “Oh don’t mind me, just pretend I’m not here.” He rested his head in the crook of Derek’s neck, Stiles’ long lashes tickling his neck with every blink. 

Braden gave a shrug and they picked up where they had left off. Derek rubbed absentminded circles into Stiles’ leg as they talked, relishing the comforting weight and contented sigh the younger man let out. “How long have you two been together?” she asked.

Derek stiffened and waited to see if Stiles would respond, but then quickly realized that he had fallen asleep. “We’re not,” he mumbled, not meeting her eye. A bitter taste rising in the back of his throat. _Why did everyone have to say shit like that?_

“Really? ‘Cause, you’d be really cute together.”

“It’s complicated,” Derek said, his mind immediately conjuring up a thousand reasons why they couldn’t. 

“Well I suggest you un-complicate it,” Braden said while Derek just gave her a weary sigh. “Look it’s getting late. Just keep what I said in mind.” Giving him one last smile she got up and walked out the door. 

Derek glanced down at a still sleeping Stiles. Smiling to himself when he saw that even asleep the young man had a small smile curling his full lips. As gently as he could Derek woke Stiles up. After a bunch of nonsensical mumblings and whiny protests he was able to get Stiles up and into his car. Though it was no easy feat.

#

“Alright what is it?” Laura asked as she gave him a knowing look through his computer screen. _Damn shrinks and their ability to read people._

“Nothing,” Derek mumbled and racked his brain for a way to change the subject. Ever since Laura had moved out, they had a standing lunch date every Friday, usually at their favorite restaurant _Finders_. On Thursday, she and Cora had a standing ‘girls night out' at the bar next door called _Keepers_ that happened to be owned by the same people. Since she had caught the flu, rather than cancel their lunch date all together they compromised and decided to do it over video call instead.

“I’m calling bullshit,” she said. “Look, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but please tell me if there’s anything I can do to help.” 

“So hypothetically speaking, what would be worse, to date a co-worker or your roommate?” Derek asked not looking into the screen of his laptop, brushing some nonexistent dirt off of his keyboard.

“Is this about Stiles and Miss Chief?” Laura asked in sympathy. 

Surprised Derek looked up into her understanding gaze. “How did you-”

“Little brother, subtly is not one of your strong suits,” she said giving him a knowing smile. “Considering the only other person you live with is our sister, that sort of narrows down the pool of suspects. As for Miss Chief, Peter is a gossip queen and told me all about the sexual tension between you and her.”

“I don’t know what to do Laura,” he said quietly giving her a pleading look. “Why is it that I seem to always have the worst luck with relationships?”

“I’m guessing that’s a rhetorical question,” she said a teasing smile on her lips. He glared at her for a moment before she gave him an understanding look. “Why don’t-”

The loud squeak of the loft door opening cut Laura off causing both of them to wince. “Sorry I should have fixed that months ago. Just hang on a second,” he said getting up to shut his bedroom door.

“So are you going to do it?” Cora’s voice floated down the hallway and into Derek’s bedroom before he could shut his door. He knew he should have closed his door when he first started the Zoom call with Laura, but he thought that Cora wouldn’t be home until well after dinner. He was just about to shut the door when another voice joined his sisters. 

“I don’t know Cora,” Stiles said with a whine. “There are some days when I feel like he likes Miss Chief more than me.” Derek’s mind came to a halt. He had no idea that Stiles knew Miss Chief, then again he did know Boyd and Peter really well so it wouldn’t have been a long shot for them to know each other. 

“For shit sakes, just ask the poor man out. I’m so sick and tired of seeing you two simultaneously eye fuck while you dance around each other.” Cora’s words caused jealousy to rise in the back of his throat. 

“Does he even like guys?”

“Well, he hasn’t come out if that’s what you’re asking. But hon I got to tell you, he may not be gay, but he’s sure as hell ain't straight.” 

“But would it freak you out? What if he’s not into guys and I’m just making this up all in my head? What if he says yes and then we break up? I don’t think I could-”

“Stiles I need you to breathe for me,” Cora said guiding a hyperventilating Stiles through some breathing exercises. Once Stiles had calmed down she said, “as long as I don’t have to hear you two bone or get a detailed play-by-play after I’m good with you asking him out.” Unable to take any more Derek shut his door.

“Aw I’m sorry,” Laura said when he came back to the laptop.

“So I guess you heard that,” Derek said deflated. 

“Bright side is that since it seems like Stiles is going to ask someone else out, it’ll make choosing easier since he’ll be off the market,” Laura said in a bright tone that Derek really didn’t want to hear right now. They finished up their call and Derek went to go dive headfirst into bed.

**Author's Note:**

> I love hearing from you guys so please let me know what you guys think. If there are any tags that I missed let me know so I can add them. Looking forward to seeing you guys in the next chapter.
> 
> <3  
> Amber


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